This looks to be a very predictable game.
Central Coast are flying pretty high atm, and providing they haven't played themselves out of form after a disappointing 2nd half against Brisbane Roar last week, then they should pack too many guns for a disappointing Perth outfit.
It has been a pretty interesting week over in the West with owner Tony Sage saying he was packing his bags and leaving the club at seasons end earlier in the week, only to rescind that statement a couple of days later. Quite a lot of loyal Glory supporters have apparently had enough of the mediocrity they have had to witness over the past few seasons and vented their anger at the Chairman (and his family) after the Melbourne Heart match last weekend.
Whilst that is hardly ideal and not very comforting to the powers to be the fact is the fans do deserve to be entertained and can't see a light at the end of the tunnel, with the current manager at the helm. And neither can I, though a coach can only do so much with the players at his disposal too. There probably needs to be a decent overhaul of the playing staff, possibly easier said than done.
It is true though (as Sage says) that looking at their results from a statistical viewpoint,that they have only really put in the one bad effort. That just happened to be the one I saw live against Brisbane in which they were absolutely horrendous! But it seems that was all down to the Manager being too worried about Brisbane attacking and not enough about his players doing the same .That mistake was punished severely in one 20 minute period in the first half whereby they conceded 4 goals. The 2nd stanza was a big improvement when a bit of attacking aggresion was employed.
Apart from that, of the other 5 losses they've sufferred only one has been by more than 1 goal. The reverse fixture of this tie earlier in the season ended in a 2-1 victory to Central Coast.
And that previous point is a pertinent one because on an overall historical basis Perth have an absolutely terrible record against the Mariners winning only 2 against them and drawing 5 from 19 enocunters.
But, at home, they have played 9 Won 2, Drawn 4 and Lost 3. Those 3 losses have all been by 1 goal!
Which leads me to suggest that Central Coast will still win this match but probably not by what I originally thought. Perhaps the one goal will be enough?
Well,had Perth kept 11 men on the field they probably would have kept the losing margin to 1 goal. Quite a spirited effort by them in the latter stages but now they have to start travelling again. They will need to show even more resolve in the near future.
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